It took me a while, but I understand now what SteemIt is and I really like it. It is a brilliant concept and I applaud all the people who have given of their time, talent and resources to make it happen!
I am 61 years old and I retired from my I.T. job at a big insurance company back in 2012 when I was diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma in my throat. The cancer was the excuse I needed to stop working and I was at the point where I was likely to be fired because I couldn’t stand my job anymore.
Before I started my career in I.T., I was a musician and fancied myself to be a real guitar player. I still play for fun.
I have been a Cannabis user since I was 15 and I’ve always been aware of the War on Drugs and how corrupt it is. I spent years during the Clinton presidency doing street protests and distributing information pointing out the harms of the drug war. Around 2004 I became aware of what a fraud the official explanation of what happened on 9/11 is. Again, I spent years trying to raise awareness of this issue passing out literally thousands of dvds during street protests here in Milwaukee.
I’ve always loved the outdoors and did a lot of hiking and backpacking with my wife, Pati Holman. My love of nature evolved as I got involved in hands-on trail maintenance with the Ice Age Trail here in Wisconsin. I learned how to use a chain-saw and began volunteering to remove invasive species, buckthorn specifically. I became obsessed with this and spent most of my free time for over 17 years working in the Kettle Moraine State Forest.
I documented my work at http://www.scuppernongspringsnaturetrail.com and later at http://www.thebuckthornman.com. Part of my motivation was a pure love of the land, of landscapes, and natural beauty, and another major part was an attempt to escape reality. Naturally inclined to be reasonable and hoping for the same in other people, I became extremely frustrated at the insanity wrought by the powers that be. Working to remove invasive species and make the Kettle Moraine Forest more beautiful gave me a sense of accomplishment and great joy.
I had developed a taste for Jack Daniels when I was a performing musician and brought my old friend Jack out to the woods with. Yes, I really loved the combination of whiskey and weed and my overindulgence may have contributed to the emergence of my throat cancer in 2011 (although the etiology pointed to human papilloma virus).
I was dead set against radiation and chemo-therapy and elected to go with surgery, resulting in the removal of 13 lymph nodes and most of the palatine tonsil on the right side of my throat. One of the lymph nodes was cancerous. I quit drinking Jack Daniels but slowly replaced it with beer and wine — and cannabis was always there.
By 2016 my relationship with Pati had deteriorated badly and she moved out the Ashland Oregon (we are still married). The cancer came back and again, I declined radiation and chemo-therapy and elected for surgery only. 4 more lymph nodes were removed and an area at the base of where my palatine tonsil had been removed, which was suspicious, was also removed. The primary source however was still not absolutely identified.
I made a show of “cleaning up my act” but frankly, didn’t really care anymore. In August 2017 I discovered another swollen lymph node and this time the cancer had formed a tumor at the base of my tongue, which was inoperable. I delayed treatment for 3 months while searching for alternatives to radiation and chemo-therapy and in the meantime, the tumor grew 5 times bigger and I could barely talk or swallow. I finished radiation and chemo-therapy in January 2018 and I’m waiting for a PET/CT scan in May to see where I’m at.
One of the reasons I joined SteemIt is to share my experience with cancer and I plan to do that soon.
I retired from invasive species work in the Kettle Moraine in September 2017 and quit smoking Cannabis (I stick with eating “Rick Simpson” oil now -- a dab a day). Pati and I always loved to garden and now I am turning the rest of my backyard into a vegetable garden. I will be posting videos and stories about the garden soon (my garden plan is on the web at http://gardenplanner.jungseed.com/garden-plan.aspx?p=883028). Ideally, I would like to produce a surplus of fruits and vegetables and share them with family, friends, neighbors and — if it turns out really good — local food pantries.
I have also rekindled my protest against the War on Drugs by getting involved in the Milwaukee City-County Heroin, Opioid and Cocaine Task Force. I posted a number of videos on YouTube and DTube regarding this and here is a sample:
Philosophically, I don’t accept the claims made by governments that they have a “right” to control what we possess and consume. But, facing the reality of the powers that be, I am attempting to influence the Milwaukee Common Council and County Board to consider the harms of the Drug War in the goals and strategies adopted by the Task Force. This effort is ongoing…
I have a new hobby and that is converting old history books to audio. I don’t have a lot of time to read, but I do have time to listen and that is what is motivating me. I’m posting my audio books on http://archive.org and here is a list of what I have done so far:
Between Two Ages: America's Role in the Technetronic Era, by Zbigniew Brzezinski
https://archive.org/details/BetweenTwoAges
The Politics of Heroin in Southeast Asia, by Alfred McCoy
https://archive.org/details/ThePoliticsOfHeroin
History of the Great American Fortunes, By Gustavus Myers (Volumes I, II and III -- 1936 edition)
https://archive.org/details/HistoryOfTheGreatAmericanFortunes
History of the Supreme Court of the United States, by Gustavus Myers
https://archive.org/details/HistoryOfTheSupremeCourtOfTheUnitedStates
Triumphant Plutocracy, by Richard F. Pettigrew
https://archive.org/details/TriumphantPlutocracy
History of the Rise and Fall of the Slave Power in America Vol I, by Henry Wilson
https://archive.org/details/HistoryOfTheRiseAndFallOfTheSlavePowerInAmericaVol1
History of the Rise and Fall of the Slave Power in America Vol II, by Henry Wilson
https://archive.org/details/HistoryOfTheRiseAndFallOfTheSlavePowerInAmericaVol2
History of the Rise and Fall of the Slave Power in America Vol III, by Henry Wilson
https://archive.org/details/HistoryOfTheRiseAndFallOfTheSlavePowerInAmericaVol3
The Unconstitutionality of Slavery, by Lysander Spooner
https://archive.org/details/TheUnconstitutionalityOfSlavery
Principles of Secondary Education, by Alexander Inglis
https://archive.org/details/PrinciplesOfSecondaryEducationByAlexanderInglis
The History Of The Lives And Bloody Exploits Of The Most Noted Pirates
https://archive.org/details/TheHistoryOfTheLivesAndBloodyExploitsOfTheMostNotedPirates
The following people have been major influences on my thinking over the last 10 years:
Richard Grove
Jan Irvin
Mark Passio
James Corbett
Sibel Edmonds
Marc Stevens
Lysander Spooner
Thomas Paine
Frédéric Bastiat
Étienne de La Boétie
Gustavus Myers
There is so much to learn and I humbly confess that I have only just begun…